The Twelve Labors of Heracles
by sweetdonalbain81507
Summary: An old school project of mine...it's a poem telling the story of the labors of Heracles.


**Disclaimer: I'm not sure who these characters belong to, but it isn't me. It's someone unlikely to sue, but still.**

Tell me, O Muse,

of the greatest hero of all time,

who completed twelve labors of the utmost difficulty

'gainst the will of Hera.

Son of the Lord Zeus and Alcmene,

he was hated by Hera

and named for this reason

Heracles.

Two serpents of death sent

to his cradle

became heralds of heroism

when strangled by the babe.

Like Odysseus's journey his life began

smooth and with great fortune,

before the seeds of madness were sown

by the queen, his hated antagonist.

Heracles strangled his

wife and children, who became

heralds of

tragic heroism.

Sent in disgrace to

King Eurystheus, Heracles

was forced to complete

ten deadly labors.

Required first of the young hero

was the death of the Nemean lion.

Born of Echidna, by Orthus

the beast was invulnerable

to sword, arrow,

and spear.

But fearless Heracles, never despairing,

did with the lion

as he did with two serpents,

his wife Megara,

and his sons,

Therimachus,

Deicoon,

and Creontiades.

Skinning the great beast's corpse,

Heracles wore the

impenetrable hide for

the rest of his days.

The next of his tasks

was the slaying of

the Hydra.

With nine heads, one immortal,

the Hydra was much more

fearsome than it appeared.

Like the phoenix, dying and renewing,

when one head was severed,

two more

were regenerated.

Even the greatest of all men

could not kill this creature

of darkness alone.

With his nephew Iolaüs by his side,

Heracles found the Hydra unlike the phoenix.

Though fire causes

the phoenix to be reborn,

fire against the necks of the heads

cut off by Heracles

prevented further

growth.

The blood of the Hydra,

which was deadly venom,

Heracles used

to coat many of his arrows.

The wickedness of Eurystheus,

backed by the goddess,

discounted this labor

for it was solved not by Heracles

but by Heracles and another,

Iolaüs.

The third labor was

in itself not deadly, but was,

considering the retribution

to be brought on Heracles for the completion

of the task, the

most dangerous of all.

The Cerynitian hind had been given

to the huntress, Artemis,

and transformed by the goddess,

into a beautiful doe.

Sacred to Artemis was the doe,

of white hide,

gold hooves,

and fleet foot,

which Heracles was required

to capture

alive.

For a year and more

Heracles chased the doe,

unwilling to injure her,

for fear of the enmity

of another goddess.

Finally, in reckless abandon,

Heracles sent at the doe

a bit of wood,

feather,

and stone,

injuring, but not slaughtering,

the creature of the goddess of the moon.

As he was returning with the deer,

the lady of the light appeared

before him in a towering rage,

for the gods do not quickly forgive

the death

of their sacred beings.

Dropping on his knees,

the strongest mortal ever to live

begged the night queen

to believe

in his lack of intent

to kill the lovely beast.

With a softened heart, the lady

of the hunt

allowed Heracles to continue on

the condition that he

protect her doe from harm.

The next of his tasks was

to retrieve the deadly Erymanthian Boar

alive.

With wine given him by the centaur Pholus,

Heracles attracted the boar;

however, the wild centaurs

arrived as well.

A battle ensued between the

enraged centaurs and the

tragic hero.

Although victory belonged

to Heracles, the price

was the life of Pholus,

and the wise centaur, Cheiron.

Heracles captured the boar and

brought it to the king, but

the cowardice of Eurystheus

caused him to hide

in a brass jar from the boar, and implore

Heracles to show

the fruits of his labors outside the city wall.

Angered at the success of Heracles,

Eurystheus and Hera

planned the most humiliating of tasks:

the cleaning of the Augeian stables in

one day.

The state of the Augeian stables was

the result of thousands of cattle,

lazy stable boys,

and many years.

A lesser man would have

faltered at this task,

but not our hero!

Heracles diverted streams and built dams,

altering the course of two rivers,

making them rush through the stables.

Eurystheus refused

to count this labor as well,

saying that the rivers

cleaned the stables instead of Heracles.

Adding a labor for this one,

as well as the slaying of

the Hydra, Heracles now

had twelve tasks.

The sixth of Heracles's tasks

was to chase away the

Stymphalian birds, with beaks of brass.

So many were there that

the hero knew not what to do.

However, Athena,

having an affection for the demigod,

showed him the way.

A rattle was given him by the Gray Eyed One,

a rattle of such horrendous noise,

that the birds were

immediately

chased away.

The Cretan bull was the goal

of the next of Heracles's labors.

The bull was sent to Crete

by Poseidon, but when

the king of the isle, Minos, refused

to honor the god, as was his right,

the bull became

the lover of Queen Pasiphaë.

Shocked at the betrayal

by his wife with a bull,

Minos was willing

to give his rival in love

to our hero.

Alas! His trials were not over!

The bull refused

to board a ship, leaving

Heracles stranded on the

isle of Crete with no

way to return to King Eurystheus.

But, the sacredness of

the bull to Poseidon allowed

the beast to walk on water.

Riding the back of the bull, Heracles

made the creature return

to the realm

of Eurystheus.

To fetch the flesh eating mares of Diomedes

was the next trial in store

for our hero.

Heracles easily overcame

the difficulties of capturing

the mares

by throwing Diomedes

to his own horses.

Alas! Even this task had a price

for Abderus, son of Hermes,

the squire

and lover

of Heracles was given the job

of guarding the mares,

but was devoured by his charges.

Heartbroken, Heracles built

a city, which he called Abdera,

as a monument to his squire.

The queen of the Amazons, Hippolyte

possessed a belt which

was desired by

the daughter of Eurystheus, Admeta,

making it

the subject of

our hero's ninth labor.

The queen was won over by

the charms of Heracles

and would willingly have given him

her belt.

However, the jealous goddess, Hera,

in the guise of an Amazon,

spread the word that Hippolyte

was being kidnapped.

The ship of Heracles

was attacked by these enraged women.

Heracles believed

that the warriors of the night

attacked on the orders of Hippolyte,

causing him to kill the queen and take her belt.

The tenth of the trials

faced by our hero

was to capture

the cattle of Geryon.

His journey brought him

along and caused him to be

scorched by the heat of the sun.

Angered, he was bold enough

to challenge the god of the son

with an arrow.

So admiring was Apollo,

the lord of the light,

that he gave our hero

a golden cup

in which he sailed

to Geryon's realm,

Erytheia.

Heracles easily slaughtered

the guardians of the cattle,

the giant, Eurytion,

the two-headed hound, Orthus,

and the three-headed Geryon himself.

Returning to Eurystheus,

our hero encountered many rogues,

who like vultures do to eagles,

stole cattle and challenged him

to duels which

our hero always won.

Heracles continued

with the task of stealing

the apples of Hesperides.

The lovely Hesperides

were three nymphs,

daughters of Atlas and Hespires.

He searched,

battling one thousand nightmares on his way,

for the Titan, Atlas,

holding up the world,

forevermore.

Asking for the location

of the garden,

our hero learned

that, like a rose,

the apples looked beautiful,

but hurt to touch.

Lethal to mortals, the golden apples

were far from the reach

of Heracles.

Imploring Atlas to pick

the apples, our hero found himself

with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Atlas left Heracles the sky,

to retrieve the apples

that shone like stars.

Returning with the stars,

the bitter Atlas

found a way to remove his burden forever.

He told Heracles

that he would take the apples

to King Eurystheus, but

actually meant to flee,

leaving the sky

to a mortal.

Crafty Heracles, however,

saw through the guise

to the treacherous heart within.

Asking Atlas to hold the sky

only while he adjusted the pelt

to allow him relief,

our hero took the stars,

and hurried away.

The final task

was the most deadly

and impossible of all.

The three-headed dog of darkness,

Cerberus,

was to be captured

by our hero.

With the help of fleet-footed Hermes,

Heracles descended

to the Underworld.

Gaining permission from Hades,

the lord of darkness himself,

Heracles went to subdue

the hound of hell.

On only one condition

could he take the beast:

that he use no weapon.

Wrestling the dog, our hero

somehow managed

to defeat the force of darkness

and bring the beast to Eurystheus.

Terrified, the cowardly king

begged the hero to return the dog

to Hades.

Finally, the hero had received

his atonement for the murder

of Megara and their sons,

and could appreciate

the beauty

of rosy-fingered Dawn, creeping up

the horizon.

**A/N: And that was my project. It's pretty bad, but I'm still just so impressed with myself for writing this whole thing in one day that I decided to post it. I hope you enjoyed it and review. Bye!**


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